Truth through Deception
by JMYoda
Summary: AU. Cecile and Seier, two Kingdoms at war. One Kingdom ruthless, the other determined to fight honorably and the people stuck in the middle.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me.  
Warnings: AU, some violence, possible OOC 

Prologue

The air was filled with the acrid smell of fire, destruction, and death. Where once the majestic town of Sombra stood, now only abandoned remnants of buildings and roads remained. The ruins of the town were strewn with the former inhabits of the city and an air of panic and despair remained. The soldiers of Seier solemnly went about their duty of securing the remains of the town and searching for survivors. Suddenly, there came a shout from one of the soldiers, and two of them emerged carrying a smaller figure. The smaller figure was clearly a small child. The child had short brown hair which currently was littered with dirt and some debris. The child was a girl and when the two soldiers drew nearer King Arain and his escort, the King was slightly disconcerted to see that he recognized the child. It was Anzu. She was the daughter of Solomon's neighbor. Who's Solomon? Solomon was the primary reason the King and his escort were even there searching the destroyed city. Solomon had been a General in Arain's army and had performed many heroic deeds before his retirement. In recognition of his accomplishments, Solomon had been awarded the title of Lord and granted the lands near Sombra.

"Child, what has happened here, how has this happened?" inquired the King. "Your Highness, it was soldiers, Lord Solomon said they bore the crest of Pegasus." Anzu answered. "Where are Solomon and his family? Have you seen anyone else since the attack?" The King demanded. "No. Your soldiers were the first I have seen. I was with Lord Solomon and Gioco at the beginning of the attack, but was separated." Anzu replied. Gioco was the name of Solomon's grandson and heir. The King had been hoping that Gioco and his own heir Yami would someday be great friends. Aside from this, it would be a great loss if Gioco had been killed as he had the potential to become a powerful mage. The King turned to address the two soldiers who had found Anzu, "Take her back to the palace and have the servants place her with the other children." "Yes Sire" they both answered.

Two of his Generals approached. "My Lord, we have found no other survivors." "What of Solomon and his grandson?" the King questioned. "We have found no sign of either one my King, but it is likely they were killed by the enemy soldiers." "Very well, if you have completed the search of the town, gather the soldiers and we will return to the palace. We have a war to wage."


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me.

Chapter 1

Thirteen years had passed since the destruction of Sombra. The war which started that day had not yet ended. Arain's Kingdom was the more powerful, but the King was unwilling to take certain steps needed to end the war more quickly. Arain wanted the war to be won honorably. Pegasus however, was utterly ruthless. He was not above blackmail and torture to achieve his goals. Pegasus used merciless tactics. He attacked not only Seier soldiers but attacked and burned defenseless towns and either murdered all of the citizens or took the survivors away to become slaves in Cecile. Arain's tactics were a bit different. He knew that many of Cecile's citizens only served Pegasus out of fear. Knowing this he treated the towns that found themselves in the crossfire with kindness. Due to these facts both Cecilians and Seierans soon came to call Pegasus the Oppressor while Arain and Yami became known as the Liberators.

At the Seier royal palace shouting could be heard coming from the corridor leading to the Prince's rooms. Servants clung to either side of the hall as two boys ran through the hall. Both were tall, one had messy blond hair and brown eyes, the other had brown hair and eyes. These were Jonouchi and Honda. Why were they running? They had inadvertently spilled ink on a document that Prince Yami had been working on for the past several days. Another boy came running after the other two. This boy had spiky dark hair with red at the tips and blond bangs. In addition to this he also had deep crimson eyes. This was none other than the Crown Prince of Seier Yami.

"You idiots! I spent hours working on that treaty! Stop clowning around!" the Prince yelled at the two generals.

"Yami, you know that the only way we are ever going to be at peace with Cecile is if Pegasus dies. Pegasus will not willingly sign a treaty or surrender to us." Honda said reasonably.

"Besides, your work just would have been dissected by those advisors of your father's anyway. We just saved you some time and anxiety by destroying it now." Jonouchi added.

This did not improve Yami's mood. He was already on edge since the war meeting earlier that week. Otogi, the Strategy and Tactics General had been warning about the possibility of spies for some time now. At the meeting, these suspicions became fact when Otogi revealed he had unearthed at least three spies in the palace itself, to say nothing of the surrounding area. Pegasus had been escalating his attempts to get inside information about Seier actions. Since the discovery of spies in the palace, everyone had been working overtime to increase security measures and try to uncover any remaining spies. Jonouchi, the General in charge of defensive concerns, merely moaned and complained about the increasing demands of his office. Marik and Honda, the Generals in charge of internal matters and offensive concerns certainly seemed to be taking the threat of spies among the civilians and army seriously. Yami, as Crown Prince of Seier, had to be especially guarded to ensure that no one overheard confidential information. To this end, he had had to dismiss his personal servant when it was revealed that his servant had been intimately involved with one of the discovered spies.

"Shouldn't you three be doing something productive, like drawing up some battle plans?"

While the three had been standing in the hall and arguing, Seto had managed to sneak up on them.

"What are ya trying to do? Scare me ta death?" Jonouchi asked.

"That wasn't exactly my intention although I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I did" Seto replied.

"What have you, Malik, and Bakura cooked up" Yami asked Seto. Seto, Malik, and Bakura were the three royal mages.

"We have gone over several separate spells that should keep out common spies. However, if Pegasus is using mages in his attempts at infiltration they won't be much help. The only type of spells that would be able to shield us from magic enhanced spies would require a fourth mage to cast. As I am sure you remember we are currently one mage short." Seto informed him.

Normally the make up of the royal court includes four generals, one each to cover strategy and tactics, offensive, defensive, and internal matters, as well as four mages to protect the royal family and those who work closely with the royal family from magical interference. Yami's court was one mage short. The fourth and final mage should have been Gioco, the grandson of Solomon, the Strategy and Tactics General from his father's court. Sadly, Sombra, the town where Gioco and his grandfather lived, had been attacked and destroyed thirteen years before. King Arain and his court had long since given up on finding Solomon or Gioco alive. Searches were still being conducted in an attempt to try and identify another mage of Gioco's skill level. Unfortunately Gioco had been the rarest level of mage. There are five different levels of mages. Yami and his father Arain were both royal mages. Royal mages contain aspects of the other four, but primarily rely on their four court mages for protection. Kelta describes the leader, the decision maker of the group and Seto was the Kelta in the royal mages. Malik was the Tura of the royal mages. Turas generally go about problem solving differently than most people. Instead of avoiding a possible problem, Turas have a tendency to plow straight through it, which may or may not cause additional problems along the way. The third level is known as Mesta. Mestas are considered rebels by any definition. They are resistant to following orders from almost anyone. The final level, which included Gioco are called Serra. Serras are usually very powerful mages but also have the ability to ground the other three in the group and are resistant to the lure of wealth and power.

"Seeing as there isn't any way we can counter that problem at the moment we might as well accept it." Yami said.

"You shouldn't just brush aside the problem Prince, mage spies are highly dangerous as they can use stealth and cunning as well as magic to attack us. We also know that Pegasus has this resource at hand. I'm sure you have heard of the one known as Specter." This was not a question but rather a statement from Seto. Specter was the name of a particularly dangerous mage spy employed by Pegasus. No one knew exactly what level mage Specter was, but it was definite he was quite powerful.

"I know Seto, I know, I'm not disregarding the threat. I'm merely acknowledging the fact that there is little I can do about it at this time." Yami replied wearily. This was an old dilemma for Yami who seemed to be having discussions regarding the trio of mages more frequently.

"Aside from these problems is there anything else I need to do?" Yami inquired. Aside from being the leader of the mages, Seto was also his cousin and a kind of advisor.

"Eventually you will need to choose another personal servant. Shall I collect some servants for you to choose from?"

"I don't believe that will be necessary. You! Over there!" Yami motioned for a random boy to stop.

"He will be my personal servant" Yami said to Seto, Jonouchi, and Honda.

"Finish your duties for the day and then report to my rooms. From now on my orders and my father's orders are the only ones you must obey" Yami informed the boy.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Yugi, sir" the boy replied before being given permission to leave.

"Uh…did you just pick some random boy to be your servant?" Jonouchi asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Are ya sure that's the safest thing to do considering the existing situation?" Jonouchi replied.

"It will be fine, I have a feeling that any spies that are still in our midst would have to be the more cunning ones and just questioning the servants won't draw them out. Besides, the boy I chose doesn't look old enough or deceitful enough to be able to carry off being one of Pegasus' spies." Yami answered.

"Well, you were right about one thing. He definitely didn't look old enough to be a Cecilian spy. The kid looked like he was about twelve years old." Jonouchi agreed.

"I don't know Yami," Honda remarked "I mean haven't you ever heard the phrase 'Appearances can be deceiving?"


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me.

Chapter 2

Pegasus, King of Cecile, was currently sitting in his throne room. Pegasus was an eccentric person who had shoulder length silvery hair and had a liking for the color red. In fact, he was currently wearing a flamboyant red cloak, a red silk shirt, matching pants, and red suede shoes. It was a tradition for the people to come to their ruler every other week to solve domestic problems which the citizens had been unable to solve. The people under Pegasus' reign had gotten out of practice a bit seeing as Pegasus had the annoying tendency to banish the souls of those who annoyed him too much. You see, Pegasus, like Yami and Arain from Seier, was also a royal mage. Pegasus' infamous punishment for those who defy or simply annoy him was the loss of their soul. Because of a lack of annoying citizens with problems, Pegasus found his evening rather boring and was finding time to contemplate his ongoing schemes. One of his current schemes he was rather proud of. Thirteen years ago, he had provoked the great Arain into declaring war. How? By attacking a town that happened to hold two people that were important to Arain and his obnoxious son Yami. In one attack, he had managed to temporarily cripple the current court and hopefully permanently cripple the future court.

His soldiers had captured the then General of Strategy and Tactics and a Serra Mage. Instead of killing them, which would have been the logical thing to do, Pegasus took a different approach. By abducting the General's grandson, Pegasus had a rather good way to ensure that Solomon would do what he ordered. In Pegasus' mind, Solomon had much to answer for by allying himself with Seier and Arain. Pegasus had also seen the possibilities with having a young Serra Mage that he could mold into his own image. One of the first things he did was place a spell on Solomon that prevented him from telling his grandson certain things, like the fact that Pegasus had attacked and destroyed their home in order to capture them and exact revenge against Seier through them. It was inevitable that little Gioco would eventually find out the truth behind why he and his grandfather were Seierans living in Cecile, but until that day Pegasus would have the full powers of a Serra Mage at his disposal. With any luck, he would be able to turn Gioco against Seier before he discovered the truth. If that happened, even learning the truth about what Pegasus did would not be enough to make Gioco distance himself from Pegasus.

Of course Pegasus could not leave Gioco with his birth name; it was far too dangerous if someone who had heard about the tragedy that befell Sombra. It was of course predictable that even with the spell, Solomon would still have some influence on his grandson, so after some years and one particular mission, Pegasus decided that he needed to take some preventative care. To this end, he captured Solomon's soul and decided to hold it ransom to ensure his grandson followed Pegasus. For every mission that Solomon's grandson accomplished for Pegasus, Gioco would get 20 minutes with his grandfather. If he failed in a mission or refused to follow orders, his grandfather's soul would be forfeit. Needless to say, Gioco hadn't failed yet.

Gioco was now none other than the feared spy Specter. It amused Pegasus to no end that the one person that could save Seier and end this war was the spy they feared so much. Gioco knew better than to go to Arain and confess what had happened thirteen years ago. In some certain missions years before where Pegasus had ordered Specter to gather information on and then kill Seieran officials and their families, Specter had refused to carry out the second half of his orders. When Pegasus learned of Specter's defiance Pegasus decided he needed to monitor Specter more closely. This was when he captured Solomon's soul as an incentive for Gioco to follow his orders in the future.

Why was Pegasus doing all of this? What were his goals behind it? To hurt Arain. Why did Pegasus hate Arain? Simple, Arain had bested and humiliated Pegasus. It had been twenty years ago at the annual games of Artinon. Artinon was a small town between Cecile and Seier which refused to ally themselves with either kingdom. Due to this Artinon was seen as neutral territory and neither kingdom dared to attack it. The annual games accomplished two things. First, they signified a willingness to promote peace and prosperity among both kingdoms. Second, it allowed the best athletes from each kingdom to compete against each other. It was during the closing ceremonies of the games, when the heirs of each kingdom dueled that disaster struck. The two heirs were Arain and Pegasus. At first, the two seemed well matched. Suddenly Arain identified a weakness in Pegasus' defenses and struck. Pegasus' only indication that something was wrong was a sudden blinding pain in his left eye. Arain had hit Pegasus with a colere spell, which causes inflammation and a burning sensation, directly in the eye. The colere spell had caused Pegasus to lose his left eye. He now wore a solid gold eye piece in place of his eye. Why go after Solomon? Solomon was the most easily accessible of Arain's court and had the added benefit of having a Serra Mage for a grandson.

Suddenly a rather brutish looking man dressed in black entered the room. This was Croquet, and he was one of Pegasus' top minions. Croquet's entrance interrupted Pegasus' musings.

"What is it? I believe I told you I did not want to be disturbed." Pegasus said angrily.

"My apologies Oh Great One, but I thought you'd like to know that Specter has reported in. He reports that so far his mission has been successful. In addition to this he has confirmed additional wards have been placed around the palace" Croquet informed him.

"What do we know about these wards?" inquired Pegasus.

"Not much I'm afraid. They are designed to detect intruders, but are not powerful enough to stop intruders who are protected by magic. Magic enhanced spies will still be able to infiltrate the palace undetected."

"Of course not fool. If the wards could detect magic enhanced intruders that would mean they had found another Serra Mage somewhere. If that had occurred we would have a lot more problems than new wards. The court mages inability to consolidate their powers is a direct result of not having a Serra Mage. Nevertheless, these wards are merely a nuisance, and a temporary one at that. While our non-magical spies are expendable it is a waste of resources to discard and train new ones. Inform Specter that he now has an additional mission: neutralize the wards. Also, inform our other spies to lay low for the time being" Pegasus ordered.

"Yes my Lord." With this Croquet turned and left the room.

The wards were nothing but a temporary nuisance that would soon no longer exist. Pegasus had to admit one thing; Specter was the best agent he had. Yes, Arain would fall. First his kingdom, followed by his friends and court, then his abominable son, and finally Arain himself would fall before Pegasus. Pegasus would have his revenge.

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	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me. If I did own Yu-Gi-Oh I probably would have gotten into anime a lot sooner than I did. The plotline for this story comes solely from the twisted confines of my own mine.

AN: Sorry for the delay in between chapters. Work has the unfortunate effect of stressing me out to the point of being unable to write coherent sentences. Special thanks to both of my reviewers, and a side note to netherzara: without giving out to many secrets of my story before they are revealed let me just say that you are definitely on the right track in your guesswork :) Until next time, enjoy chapter 3 and have a wonderful day!

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 3 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 3 TRUTH

Chapter 3

Yugi sat quietly in the vast room waiting for his new master, the Crown Prince, to appear.

'I wonder exactly what is involved with being the Prince's servant' Yugi thought in passing.

'I have heard he can be very cruel, although I've never seen him act cruel. Perhaps the rumors are just that…rumors. Rumors that were started by a discontented citizen; after all he is royalty so he's bound to have upset someone sometime. On the other hand, maybe they are true and his apparent kindness is the true act. But I also know that when you have two conflicting statements, the truth generally lies somewhere in the middle. So maybe that means he is both kind and cruel. Oh I don't know! All I know is that all this thinking is giving me a headache!'

With this final thought Yugi put his head into his hands and sighed. Hearing a noise Yugi slowly looked up. As if summoned by his complicated musings Yami, Prince of Seier, entered the room.

Yami entered his room and glanced in Yugi's direction. Although he would never admit to it, Yami had not chosen Yugi to be his servant at random. Nor was this the first time Yami had seen Yugi. In truth, he first saw Yugi several days ago and was struck by his appearance. What was so strange about his appearance? Well to start with Yugi what Seto would refer to as "vertically challenged." In other words, he was short. Secondly he had large innocent amethyst eyes. But the thing about Yugi's appearance that Yami found so striking was his hair. Yugi's hair looked like Yami's except Yami had more blond hair. Yami had never met anyone whose hair looked even remotely like his own. Looking at Yugi Yami was again hit by how much the two looked alike. Of course this phenomenon was not unheard of. Bakura and one of his healers, Ryou, certainly looked enough alike for the two of them to pass as brothers. Marik and Malik were the same. Interestingly, both pairs of look alikes had gotten together, in the romantic sense of the phrase. In Bakura and Ryou's case Yami could not think of two people who were more different. Gazing at his counterpart Yami realized with a jolt that the only thing he really knew about this person was his name.

"How old are you?" Yami asked finally.

"Sixteen summers my Lord" Yugi answered quietly.

'Sixteen?' Yami was shocked. He would've sworn Yugi was no older than twelve. Perhaps he had misheard.

"I do not lie, Your Highness, I am sixteen summers. Everyone always thinks I am younger than I truly am." Yugi said, correctly interpreting Yami's shocked silence.

"It's not so surprising really. My grandfathers is a tad bit on the short side as well. I guess you could say it runs in the family." Yugi continued.

'That can certainly be true.' Yami thought. He remembered his father's older general Solomon was certainly short, or vertically challenged as the case may be. If Gioco…no he wasn't going to let himself walk down that road again. Gioco and Solomon were dead, end of story. There was no use in thinking about could've beens and should've beens. They were dead, murdered by that mad man Pegasus. His father mourned the loss of a great and old friendship as well as lost possibilities for the future. He, Yami, also mourned the loss of a friend. What his father, and likely even Solomon, didn't know was that _had_ met Gioco. It was only a few short weeks before the destruction of Sombra. His father had convened a full court council, unknowingly the last one he would ever be able to call. They had met to discuss the growing aggression of Cecile. Due to the recent deaths of his son and daughter-in-law Solomon had no choice but to bring Gioco to the palace. Yami had been hiding from his dreaded tutor and had run into Gioco who was wandering the halls of the palace. The two literally ran into each other but quickly jumped back to their feet and decided to be friends. Yami didn't remember much of what he had done that day so many years ago, but he did know it was truly one of the most enjoyable days he had as a child. Later, Solomon had come across the two children playing and smiling told Gioco it was time to go home and that he could come and play with Yami some other time.

Shaking his head to redirect his thoughts to the present, Yami tried to think of something else he could ask his new servant. Remembering that Yugi mentioned a grandfather, Yami asked "What about your parents or any siblings?"

"I was an only child and my parents died a long time ago, I can barely remember them."

"You weren't born as a servant were you Yugi? You're mannerisms and speech patterns are those of an educated upper class man."

"You are correct, I was not born as a servant, but I can't remember much of my old life, only enough to know that something is missing. What is missing, however, I haven't a clue." Yugi responded.

"What about your grandfather? Surely he knows more about your family background."

"Grandpa has been very sick for a very long time. He is in no state to tell me anything of my family. Becoming a servant was the only was I could survive. I have no other choice in life." Yugi said sadly.

Yami didn't know how to respond to this and thus said nothing at all. The silence between them slowly became uncomfortable as both tried to think of something appropriate to say. As the two stood staring at each other in silence, a commotion could suddenly be heard outside the palace. Yami broke the informal stare down between himself and Yugi as he approached the doorway to find out what was happening.

Reaching the doorway, he found Seto, Jou and Marik approaching him.

"What's going on?" Yami asked.

"We're being attacked by da rebels Yam" Jou replied. "We need your help ta push them out of da palace and city."

"Yugi, stay in here, no matter what" Yami said as he grabbed his weapons and left the room.

The four raced through the palace to the throne room and found his father and the rest of the generals. It only took a few moments to organize the soldiers, but it took several hours to rid the palace and city of the rebels. Even then they could not be sure that all of the attackers were repelled from the city so the city would be in a state of alarm for the next two days.

Returning to his room, he was a bit surprised to find two of his personal guard holding a third person up against the wall. What was even more surprising was the fact that the man being restrained by the two guards was laughing maniacally.

"What is reason for this disturbance?"

"I apologize my Prince, we found this man skulking around the royal compartments. When we approached him to inquire about his intentions he attempted to attack us. When we restrained him he just started laughing." The first guard informed Yami.

"Well, what are you doing up here? This area is restricted." Yami demanded.

"Your time is coming to an end _Prince_. The truly worthy King shall soon rule all Cecile and Seier. There is nothing you can do to prevent it, consider this as your first and only warning of the end. Surrender or lose all you hold dear, the least of which shall be your life." The man said.

Abruptly, the man broke free of the two guards and pulled a hidden knife from his clothes. He made a wild swipe at Yami and missed. However, as the two guards surged forward to protect their Prince they took their eyes off the renegade. After a moment the three discovered that the attack on the Prince was a ruse and that the rebel had all alone intended to strike at a different target, himself.

"Call for the healers!" Yami yelled at the two guards. Immediately one knelt and applied pressure to the wound to slow bleeding while the other dashed off for the healers wing of the palace. The renegade meanwhile, returned his attention to Yami.

"It's only a matter of time now. He will strike at you where and when you least expect it. In fact he has already placed his trap and ensnared you."

In the doorway of the Prince's rooms, Yugi stood in shocked silence.

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 3 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 3 TRUTH

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	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, I wouldn't have to post my work on I could make it into episodes to torment all of YGO's avid fans. Any similarities to situations, factual or otherwise, described in the story are completely accidental. I did not use any sources other than my own mind to write this story and dialogue.

Short A/N: To anyone who has been watching and reading this story and wondered why I dropped off the face of the earth for two months. Please head over to my profile, the two notes at the end explain all.

Truth through Deception

Chapter 4

'You have already been ensnared by his trap. What is he talking about?'

It had been two hours since the rebel attack, two very surreal feeling hours for Yami. 'First I get attacked by a madman outside my rooms then I spend the next two hours waiting with Jou and Bakura to hear if said madman will live to see morning. Oh what a tangled web we weave' Yami thought wryly. Jou and Yami were of course waiting to see if they would interrogate the prisoner. Bakura could have cared less about the would be assassin, he was waiting for Ryou. Ryou, as the healer on call, had been the healer to respond to the scene and was also responsible for seeing to the care of the prisoner.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Bakura practically growled.

"It takes a little bit of time to sew a person back together. I would expect you of all people to know this" Yami said with a sigh. Bakura and Marik had a bit of an unhealthy fascination with knives. In particular throwing them at people they didn't like or those they found annoying, or simply because they were bored.

'Typical Bakura, I wonder how Ryou puts up with him. All I need are Marik and Malik alternating between screaming at each other and making out and it'll be a normal day around here. Well, as normal as it ever gets around here anyway.'

Bakura glared at Yami and looked as if about to say something else, but was disrupted by Ryou coming out of the healing rooms. Ryou immediately noticed the tension in the room he had just entered but shrugged it off; Bakura facing off with Yami was a daily occurrence in the palace.

"The patient is out of surgery. He is still very weak but will survive. I would suggest waiting until tomorrow to question him though" Ryou advised. Yami let himself be distracted for a moment as he paused to wonder exactly where Ryou had to have spent his childhood to have acquired his unique accent. Shaking his head, he returned his thoughts to the would-be assassin; Ryou never answered questions about his birthplace anyway, most likely too many bad memories.

"Tomorrow's too late. I need to know what he knows now. He mentioned a possible trap. I need to know if he was telling the truth or lying through his teeth. Waiting until tomorrow to question a traitor to help his health when we could all be in danger tonight because of him is unacceptable."

"Very well, I will administer a stimulant to wake him, but it cannot be very long. Even the weaker stimulants could damage his heart at this point." Ryou warned.

"We'll risk it. Like I said before, I'd rather risk one traitor than all of our lives" Yami ordered.

"I will call you in when the stimulant takes effect." With this Ryou turned on his heel and returned to the rooms of healing.

"What do you think Seto?" Yami asked turning to his old friend and cousin. Seto, who had approached the quartet while Ryou was speaking, merely raised an eyebrow at Yami. Jou on the other hand, looked around and jumped in surprise when he saw that Seto had appeared behind him.

"Quit sneakin' up on me money bags!" Jou yelled at Seto. While it was true that Seto had a lot of money available to him, he never seemed to flaunt it. His father, the third youngest brother of the King had been one of the three richest men in Seier. However, due to underhanded dealings, rumors, and political ploys he had also been one of the three most hated men in Seier. Due to this uncomfortable situation, it was really no surprise that Seto was trying to distance himself from his father's name.

"The new wards did signal. As for why we were not alerted I cannot tell you for certain. The most likely reasons being someone wasn't paying attention to the alert stations or someone initiated an override of the alert protocol." Seto said ignoring Jou's earlier comment.

"You better not be implyin' that any of my people had something ta do with the protocol failing tonight" Jou warned, his eyes narrowing.

Seto, once again apparently ignoring Jou continued "While it is certainly true that it could have been caused by error on the part of us or our soldiers, I believe it is more likely the work of one of Pegasus' spies. They have the motive and if it is a magic enhanced spy, they certainly have the ability as well."

"Any ideas on who it might be?" Yami inquired.

"Specter of course, although it is unlikely to be him in this case. This whole affair is far from Specter's usual method. There are a great deal of people involved here; Specter works alone. In addition to this, it has messy and left a trail we can follow. Specter I meticulous in planning to ensure there are no witnesses, no trails, no survivors, and no fallout. Specter is so efficient at his job there are those who question whether he exists at all. This case has left all of these things." Seto replied.

"Ya almost sound as if ya admire his skills" Jou observed.

"Respect his abilities and achievements is more accurate. However, moving back to the topic at hand, it is more likely to be Eclipse or Nightshade." Seto said referring to two of Pegasus' lesser known spies.

"Ya could be right" Jou said looking as though he had just swallowed a full lemon. Seto merely smirked at the look Jou had made when agreeing with his assessment. "It definitely follows their usual MO. Lots of people, lots of destruction, and lots of fallout!"

"So if it was Eclipse or Nightshade, which one was it? Is anyone else working on it? And who is lying in our healing wing?" Yami mused.

"Why don't you go inside and ask him?"

Ryou had returned from the healing rooms.

"The patient is awake, but I don't know how long he'll stay that way."

"Thank you Ryou" Yami said as he walked past Ryou into the rooms of healing.

Yami turned to the right and walked down the corridor to a room on the end. This was the room he knew the would-be assassin was in, the one with the highest security. The room was equipped with special wards that only allowed a person with royal blood or a royal court member to enter or leave. In addition to this, it had spells on it to sap any magical abilities aside from the royal family's. It was due to this particularly painful spell that kept many of the court away from the room. It also had monitoring spells in place that would trigger if the prisoner attempted to escape or if the condition of their health changed. Finally, to top is all off, the room's only door was guarded by two royal guardsmen whenever the room was being occupied.

As Yami entered the room he glanced around the small interior and located his query. Strapped immobile to the bed, the would-be assassin was staring straight ahead as though in a daze. Looking over the captive man Yami noticed he looked young, only early twenties at the most. Definitely around the right age for Nightshade at least. The man on the bed had a wiry build, blond hair, blue eyes, around 5'9" in height. In short, nothing in his appearance was distinctive; easily forgotten and easily able to disappear into the crowd. It was just what one of Pegasus' spies would look like, nondescript.

"What is your name?" Yami asked.

"What do you think my name is freak?" the prisoner asked condescendingly.

"You will answer the Prince's questions criminal!" Seto said coldly.

"I don't have to do a damn thing you say" the captive snarled.

"Your right" Yami agreed, "You don't have to do anything. Consider this though; your master does not tolerate failure. He will send someone to silence you permanently. If you cooperate with us we will protect you."

"Has is ever occurred to you that maybe I am prepared to die to serve my king?" he asked disdainfully.

"Prepared to, yes, but why throw you life away for a king who doesn't care?" Yami retorted.

The prisoner started laughing manically with a crazed look in eyes.

"You still don't get it do you? Lord Pegasus is right, you are a fool. I was not the message, I was the warning. Watch your step, fool, for soon you and your father will both fall to my Lord Pegasus. Who am I, you ask? I am the one who stalks those in dark corridors, the one whose very identity people recoil when hearing, the one who's said to be poison. I am the Nightshade. But even my legacy is small compared to the one who has been given the honor of stabbing a knife in your back. Do you worst oh 'dark' one, I shall soon be free and you shall regret you ever saw me at all!"

Nightshade once again burst into his maniacal laughter. Yami signaled for Seto and Jou to follow him.

"Well, that answered a few questions" Yami said as they exited the healing wing.

"Yes, very enlightening. One crazed follower locked up and another supposedly poised to stick a knife in your back" Seto mused.

"Well, we know one more thing at least. For Nightshade to admit the other operative was of a higher level than he himself, it severely shortens our list of possible hit men" Yami said.

"Ya shortened, but still a list of deadly killa's all aimin' for you" Jou added ominously.

TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDCTtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4TtDC4

'Damn morons!' Yugi thought viciously. 'They're going to get me killed.'

Yugi was having a very tense day. First there was that pointless riot, attack, whatever it was, then Nightshade decided to act like a moron and get caught trying to kill one of the royals. One of the royals who was said to be the most powerful royal seen in generations. To top of this wonderful day so far, Yugi was now staring at one of the only people in the world who he actually wouldn't care if died. He was looking at Weevil, codename Eclipse. "Bugman' would probably be a more apt codename' Yugi thought cynically.

"Do you understand what to do Specter?"

"Don't say that name here you half wit!" Yugi snarled.

"What are you trying to do? Get me caught and executed for espionage? Pegasus would be real happy with you then Bug boy."

"Tempting as it would be to see you hang, I know better than to go against Lord Pegasus. Besides, you do have some kind of anti-eavesdropping spell in place, don't you?"

Yugi, or Specter as we can now call him, only felt contempt for Weevil. He'd never been able to stand Weevil, he goaded his grandfather to much for Yugi to ever like him and his cutthroat and backstabbing behavior was enough to earn him Yugi's disdain. Add to this a complete inability to understand anything involving magic and it made Weevil one person Yugi would actually go out of his way to avoid.

"Of course I put up a spell, but I had to be discrete. The mages are being quite vigilant in their search for spies of Cecile."

"Surely there are ways to get around them" Weevil wheezed.

Yugi glared at Weevil and continued on with the conversation giving the previous statement just as much consideration as it deserved.

"Tell Pegasus I understand exactly what I have been tasked with. Also make sure you tell him it'll take me a while to implement my plan. All his attack did this morning was set Seier on alert. It'll take me longer now."

"Surely you can…"

"I've given you my answer now get out!" Yugi said interrupting and shoving Weevil out of the room.

'What am I going to do?' Yugi thought.

'I like Yami, he's the only person other than Grandpa who ever cared about me as a person. He's the kind of person I always dreamed could save me and Grandpa. What am I going to do? If I don't obey Pegasus then Grandpa will be worse than dead. But…if I do as Pegasus ordered…Yami will be dead by my hand.'

CHAPTER 4 END

Well folkes that it, please review! I love to hear that people are reading my stories and what their feedback is.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me. All situations come from the twisted confines of my own mind.

A/N To everyone who has left me a review, thank you so much, it is such a great feeling to get a review and know that people are actually reading my story. In other news I am a college student and as such school must come first. The end of my semester is quickly approaching and as such I have some papers and other requirements for my classes to fulfill that I probably should have been doing while I was writing this story. To all of you who I have now thoroughly freaked out let me reassure you that I have no plans to discontinue this story. I am merely letting you know that I am uncertain when I will be able to undate this story next. It may be two weeks, it may be two months. Now that I have ruined your day and drove you into depression, let's get on with the story.

Chapter 5

"Ok, so this is what we know."

Yugi turned towards the door hearing voices outside. The door opened and in walked Yami, the brunet mage, and the blond general. As the three entered the room the blond general was speaking. Yami looked over at Yugi and said "Yugi, bring some glasses and a new bottle of wine out onto the veranda. After that you can take the rest of the afternoon off."

"Yes sir" Yugi answered quietly.

Yami, Seto, and Jou (for that's who the other two were) went out and sat on the veranda. A minute or two later Yugi came out carrying a golden tray with three glasses and wine on it. Yugi set the tray on the table in the middle of the area, turned, bowed to Yami, and left silently. Yami watched him go with a slight grin. Seto noticed the expression, but said nothing. Jou, completely oblivious to the exchange, examined the wine for a moment before pouring some into each glass.

"Ok, this is what we know" Jou started again.

"The other assassin is already 'poised to strike at ya' Yami, so he's already in place" Jou said.

"He is someone able to get close to you" Seto added.

"He is someone even Nightshade respected…or feared" Yami said.

"It is highly likely that he is a mage assassin" Seto mused.

"Maybe we should start by considerin' tha people who recently got close to ya" Jou suggested.

"For once I agree with the mutt."

"Ok, there are several new administrators, but they're all backstabbing sycophants. I wouldn't trust any of them as far as Ryou could throw them."

Even Seto smirked at the thought of the pacifistic healer attempting to harm someone.

"There are a few new royal guards, but dey interact more with tha court than tha family" Jou added.

"There are several new servants, but none are really close to you. Well, Yugi has the general requirements. He's both new and close to you. Why exactly did you choose him out of all of the palace servants you see everyday? What do you really know about him?" Seto questioned.

"I can't exactly tell you why I chose him. I just felt as though if I didn't I would be making a big mistake. To tell you the truth I didn't even know his name until after I stopped him in the hall that day."

"I can't see someone like Yugi bein' the assassin though, he seems to young and innocent" Jou mused.

"Well, I have patrol, so I will take my leave of ya" With that Jou stood up and left. Seto glanced over at Yami.

"So what's going on between you and Yugi?"

"Yugi, what about him?"

"Yes Yugi, and you, together, as a pair."

Yami blinked at Seto and apparently couldn't think of anything to say to this remark. Smirking Seto continued on with his questioning.

"I saw the way you looked at him, you want him, I can tell."

"Seto, what are you talking about? I couldn't do that to him, do you have any idea what people would say?"

"Yami you're royalty. No one would say anything. It's not unheard of, it's even accepted. I mean it's expected that even royals get lonely sometimes, and with Yugi being right there"

"Seto! Quiet, I don't want to hear another word on that."

"Very well. I suppose I should leave as well, I have some research on blocking wards and detecting these blocks."

Seto quietly left Yami on the veranda. Yami however didn't notice. He was too far engaged in his thoughts.

'Me and Yugi? Why would he even suggest something like that? Although…that's not to say that he's…oh, I'll admit it, he's perfect. The way he walks, the sound of his voice, everything. But no, I can't. I can't force my feelings on him. He wouldn't be able to say no, it would practically be rape. But then again, if it's so impossible, why can't I stop thinking about him?'

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 5 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION

Yugi meanwhile found his way down to the palace library. Normally he would be more careful about risking information about himself, like that he was educated and could read. Today however he was reasonably sure that no one would be in the library for several reasons. First off, access to the palace library was restricted as it was in the heart of the palace and you had to have access from the court or family. On top of this was the fact that it was the middle of the work day and just about everyone else would be busy with their individual responsibilities. There was also heightened security at the moment because of the recent raiding. Finally, the scribes, priests, and mages were busier than normal because of the festival that was scheduled to begin tomorrow night and would last a week. All together this pointed to the fact that the library would be quite empty right now and Yugi had some research to do.

'Safety first' Yugi thought and set up an alarm to alert him should anyone approach.

'Now, I need to know more about Yami' Yugi thought as he perused the books and scrolls.

Yugi easily found the section concerning the royal family and found the series of books concerning the genealogy. Pulling out the most recent volume, Yugi paged through until he found the section concerning Yami.

_Yami, only son of Arain, son of Kelzar. Born on the vernal equinox in the fourth year of the reign of Arain, he is said to be one of the strongest royals to date. It is unclear exactly how powerful Yami is as no one has seen or reported the full extent of his abilities. It has also been suggested that he shall not come into his full power until his 18th birthday when he assumes his true name, which is now known only to Arain._

_Yami was officially recognized as the heir apparent to Arain when he was crowned on his 10th birthday. His court is as yet incomplete but currently consists of three mages and four generals. The mage currently missing is a Serra Mage and although searches are still being conducted for a Serra Mage it is unsure whether one will be found._

_Otherwise Yami is widely known for his abilities with statistics and probability particularly implementing their uses in contests and combat._

'Well that told me a lot' Yugi thought sarcastically. Returning the book to its proper place Yugi noticed that a book had not been returned properly and it fallen open on the floor. Yugi bent down with the intent of putting it away and found himself looking at a familiar face. It was the face of his grandfather. Although he knew he really shouldn't, Yugi found himself reading the pages concerning his grandfather. Pegasus would never tell Yugi anything about his grandfather. Solomon was a taboo subject around Pegasus.

_Solomon, general of strategic offensive and defensive matters. Appointed under Arain hours after his coronation, Solomon had a great deal of influence over early Arainian policy. His greatest successes include the peaceful incorporation of the wandering Emdarrin tribes into Seier authority, the Temkara Accords concerning inter-Kingdom trade, and the signing of several non-aggression pacts between Seier and several bordering Kingdoms and their allies. Perhaps his most well known moment came in the onset of the Patrician Games where Arain and Solomon acting as his second successfully defeated Pegasus, Lord of Cecile, at a game of strategy. Solomon was an active participant in the Cecile-Seier Peace Talks that occurred in the months preceding the Sombra Massacre._

_Both Solomon and his grandson Gioco are missing presumed dead from the Sombra Massacre. In an interesting twist Gioco had been a high scoring mage potential. It is even possible that Gioco had tested at the level of a Serra Mage. Whether this rumor is true and whether or not Pegasus knew of this rumor are unanswerable questions as all information concerning Gioco and his and Solomon's disappearance have been classified by Arain._

'Pegasus, it all comes back to Pegasus.'

For perhaps the first time Yugi realized how much he and his grandfather lost by being unable to grow up in Seier.

'I hate Pegasus and I know this isn't what Grandfather would want but I can't just let him die when I could do something to prevent it.'

Thinking over the information he already knew about Yami and what he had read about him Yugi came to the conclusion that the festival would probably be a good time for him, Yugi, to act. Yami would be slightly off his guard with all the drinking and merry making, it would probably be one of the only chances he got at this. Now, that he has a time frame he just had to steel his resolve and carry through with the plan.

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 5 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION

The time between Seto and Yami's talk and the festival had passed quickly. It was now time for the festival to commence. This was a high point in the Seier year. It was a time to look around and be thankful for all that you had as well as to remember and celebrate those who came before. For Seirans this was the Verruck Festival. Yami, as the Crowned Prince had the responsibility to begin the festivities at dusk. This was one of Yami's least favorite responsibilities as many of the nobles saw this as the ideal time to shove their unwed daughters at him. Jou of course found this vastly amusing and never failed to hassle Yami a little about it. Yami had spent the past day writing his speech for the banquet…and thinking over his feelings for Yugi. He had come to the realization that he did have feelings for the shorter teen. He wasn't sure where his feelings would eventually lead, but he knew he wanted to be with him. How to approach Yugi about this was another problem entirely.

'Forget it! I'll worry about it later, now I just have to get through this speech' Yami thought irritably.

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 5 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION

Several hours had passed since the start of the feast. Yami had successfully completed his speech and warded off nearly all of the ladies vying for his attention. One of the only ones who could not seem to get the hint was the lovely dancer Anzu. Anzu was currently going on and on about how the two of them were destined to be together and it was because of this destiny that she had been spared in Sombra. Yami sighed and took another glass of liqueur from a passing servant. Was this his seventh or eighth glass since dinner, or was it even more? He couldn't remember anymore. He just wanted to escape from this and go and spend more time with his Yugi.

'My Yugi? Since when have I thought of Yugi like that?' Yami wondered devouring the drink in his hand.

Seto usually looked out for Yami at these types of social gatherings, but gazing across the room he saw that Seto and Jou were engaged in their own world. Seto and Jou were currently kissing each other passionately in the middle of the hall and steadfastly ignoring everyone else.

'Well, at least those two finally stopped dancing around each other and acknowledged their feelings' Yami thought with a smirk.

Seeing that Anzu was being hailed by a fellow dancer, Yami quickly excused himself and made his way out of the banquet hall and to his rooms. He was going to see his Yugi. As a personal servant Yugi was not expected to attend the banquet and Yami had seen no reason to require him to attend. Yami stumbled into his rooms and spotted Yugi. As Yami entered Yugi hesitantly stood and approached Yugi.

"Yami, you're back earlier than I expected. I was…"

Yugi's words were stopped as Yami crossed the space between the two of them lowered his lips to Yugi's.

END OF TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 5

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	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me. The plotline comes from the depth of my own twisted little mind. Any similarities to events fact or fiction are purely coincidental.

Chapter warnings: Citrus content in the very beginning. I have marked the start and end so if you don't like go right ahead and skip over it.

A/N: Cautiously peeks out from behind the rock I chose to hide behind. I had almost half of this chapter written before I came home from college. Then I had to go do a little thing like get ready for the holidays. I was such a bad shopper this year, I didn't get done until December 23rd and I had company coming on the 24th. Then I had to go through with this chapter's editing since I start out with citrus content. Anyhow, on with the show…I mean chapter!

Additional A/N: Due to regulations I have written both an edited and unedited version of the chapter. This is the edited version. To find the unedited version of this chapter please go to either mediaminer dot org or adultfanfiction dot net under the Yu-Gi-Oh sections. My author name on both sites is JMYoda and the story is also titled the same.

Chapter 6

Yugi's words were stopped as Yami crossed the space between the two of them and lowered his lips to Yugi's. Yugi was shocked as he felt Yami kiss him.

!!!WARNING BEGINNING OF CITRUS CONTENT!!!

'I'm dreaming, I must be dreaming. I can't possibly be kissing Yami.' Yugi thought.

"Yugi, I…I love you. I love everything about you. I can't live without you. I need you Yugi. I need you like I need air to breath"

"Oh, Yami…"

Yugi's words were once again cut off as the two kissed. Yami swept Yugi into his arms and carried him the short distance to the bed. Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami's neck and leaned in towards Yami for another kiss. Yami carefully placed Yugi on the bed before climbing up next to him. Yugi and Yami proceeded to divest each other of clothes before Yami gently pushed Yugi back into the pillows of the bed and leaned over Yugi. Starting at Yugi's neck, Yami slowly made his way down Yugi's body. The two new lovers continued to make slow passionate love as they explored each others bodies.

Yami, exhausted by their activities, collapsed onto the bed next to Yugi and drew him into his arms.

"Yugi, love, tell me you'll never leave me."

"Never Yami, I love you. I could never leave you"

Yugi, who was just as exhausted, replied. The two lay in each others arms, basking in the afterglow of their first time together, and slowly fell into the realm of dreams.

!!!END OF CITRUS CONTENT!!!

Yami slowly awoke to the feeling of the bright morning sunlight coming in through the open doors leading to his private balcony.

'That was the most wonderful dream last night.'

'Me and Yugi…together…'

Yami smiled and unconsciously tightened his arms around the warm figure in his arms.

'Wait a minute…warm figure…in my arms? What?'

Focusing his gaze on the figure in front of him, Yami was shocked to discover that the being in his arms was none other than Yugi.

'If Yugi's in my arms, that means we fell to sleep together, and if that happened that means…'

Yami bolted upright in bed as the full impact of what had happened between Prince and servant last night. Yugi meanwhile had been jolted out of sleep by Yami's abrupt movement. Blinking up sleepily at Yami, Yugi quietly touched Yami's arm and said

"Yami?"

Yugi suddenly found himself jolted from his sleep, and as he looked over to the source of the disruption he saw Yami. Yugi sat up from the bed's silken sheets and gently touched Yami's arm.

"Yami? Is everything ok? What are you doing?"

"Yugi…do you feel ok?"

"Fine, well I am a little sore actually but basically fine."

Yami watched with some slight amusement as a faint blush spread up Yugi's face at his admission of being sore. This amusement was short lived however as he realized he was the cause of Yugi's discomfort.

"I am so sorry Yugi. I don't know what came over me last night. The last thing I wanted to do was cause you any pain."

Yugi frowned and looked at Yami with a hurt expression on his face as his hands twisted self-consciously in the sheets.

"Are you trying to tell me last night didn't mean anything to you?

"What? No Yugi, that's not what I mean at all. Last night when I told you I love you I meant it. I meant it then and I mean it now as well. I love you Yugi."

"I love you too."

Yugi smiled brilliantly and kissed Yami. After a moment or two the two parted their lips and Yami happened to glance outside. Realizing that he had slept later than usual, Yami moved to the edge of the bed and stood before turning back to Yugi.

"Come on; let's get ready to face the day together."

Together the two walked into Yami's large private bathroom. Yami started to fill the giant bathtub (it could easily accommodate three or four people) while Yugi selected some oils to pour into the bath water. The two quickly cleaned themselves before drying off and getting dressed; Yugi helping Yami with some of the more elaborate aspects of his clothes. Yami gazed into Yugi's eyes for a moment before he softly kissed him and headed towards the door. He left Yugi with a smile and a quiet promise.

"I'll be back soon."

"Well wasn't that just so nauseatingly cute."

Yugi snapped his head towards the source of the unexpected voice. With the source of the comment in his view Yugi narrowed his eyes and said only one word in reply, disdain evident in his voice.

"Weevil."

Seeing Weevil, Yugi immediately put up an anti-eavesdropping ward.

"What is it this time Bug Boy?"

Weevil smirked at the question and let his gaze drift up and down Yugi's form.

"You certainly have an…interesting way of accomplishing your mission. Although I'll admit I don't remember you having to sleep with a target before to get close to one. Apparently even assassins of your caliber get lonely, don't they Specter?"

Yugi glared at Weevil.

'Why does Pegasus have such obnoxious, vile creatures as underlings? Although judging from Pegasus himself I guess its not really that much of a surprise.'

This thought passed briefly through Yugi's mind.

"Was there something you needed or are you just here to annoy me?"

"I'm just here to give you a friendly reminder not to screw this up. After all, I don't think I have to remind you who else is at risk. It would be a shame if that dear old man you claim to care so much about had to get caught in the crossfire."

"Weevil, mind your own business. Tell Pegasus I am working on my own time table, not yours, his, or anyone else's. Just one other thing; tell Pegasus to stop sending incompetent minions to check up on me. You're only slowing my plans."

Weevil grinned maliciously; Yugi had to suppress the urge to shudder at this sight, and quietly disappeared out into the hall blending in with the hustle and bustle of after festival clean up efforts. Sinking to the floor in exhaustion, Yugi put his head in his hands.

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"

"That is a very good question. Here's another one, what am _I_ going to do?"

Yugi slowly lifted his gaze until his amethyst eyes encountered a pair of ice blue ones. As Yugi had sat holding his head in his hands while going over the possible results of this mission in his mind, another person had entered Yami's rooms.

"M..Mage Seto. What are you doing here?"

"Well Yugi, it was the strangest thing. I was in my rooms enjoying a lovely, private, breakfast with my younger brother, and of course my new lover."

At this remark Seto smirked momentarily before continuing.

"Then I suddenly detected an anti-eavesdropping ward go into effect right inside the Crown Prince's rooms. I was also struck with the disconcerting knowledge that this type of ward is only used by agents of Lord Pegasus of Cecile. So, I immediately left the comfort of my own rooms and my two lovely dining partners, and made my way to my cousin's rooms. I managed to reverse the wards so you would not be alerted to my presence, and discovered the troubling fact that Specter is my cousin's newest servant and lover."

Seto paused at this moment to observe the mix of shock, panic, and embarrassment that crossed Yugi's face at his statement.

"I will give you this Specter, you're good, but I can tell from your work on the wards you haven't completed mage training. Why is that?"

"Pegasus only allows training to go so far, he's paranoid someone will become more powerful than he himself is."

"Why are you willingly telling me this?"

"It's rather common knowledge in Cecile so there's no real reason not to tell you."

"Getting back to the main point of this, I noticed you seem to disagree with that other agent I saw leaving."

"Are you going to arrest him, the other agent I mean?"

"No, for now we are going to watch his comings and goings rather carefully. From your conversation with him I'm guessing you are either delaying your mission or are trying to find a way around it. So I ask you, which is it?"

Yugi said nothing, but continued to stare at the ground.

"He wants you to hurt Yami, doesn't he?"

After a few more moments of silence from Yugi Seto spoke again.

"I'll take your silence as an admission of truth. Now the question is what I should do about you."

At Seto's words Yugi raised his head and looked Seto in the eyes. Seto was surprised to see tears glistening on Yugi's face.

"Mage Seto, I know I have given you absolutely no reason to trust me. I don't want to hurt Yami, in fact I don't think I can. I love him. But there are other people's lives at stake."

"We can protect you if you help us fight against Pegasus."

"I'm not talking about my own life. That has been ruined ever since Grandfather and me…:

At this point Yugi's voice trailed off and his eyes held a far away look.

"Your Grandfather?"

"Yes, my only living relative."

"So Pegasus is forcing you to work for him by threatening your Grandfather?"

Seto felt slightly relieved at Yugi's confession of why he worked for Pegasus. The court could do something for Yugi if this was the case. At Seto's question, Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Give me some time to try to save Grandpa and avoid harming Yami. Please Seto, Grandpa is the only family I have left. What would you do if Pegasus had Mokuba?"

As Yugi mentioned Seto's brother, Seto felt a chill run down his spine. Seto nodded slowly, realizing with growing dread that there was very little he would disagree to if Mokuba were threatened.

"Very well, I will give you some time to let you try to carry out whatever plan you have devised. Be aware, I will be watching every move you make and if I get any indication that you are going to attack a Seiran, I will stop you in the most efficient way I know, and I can guarantee you will not like what will happen to you if this occurs."

Glowering at Yugi to reinforce his words, Seto turned on his heel and left Yugi alone in the Crown Prince's rooms.

Meanwhile in the Cecile Palace, Pegasus was back to his favorite pastime of plotting and calculating. His current subject of calculation was Specter. Abducting Gioco all those years ago and turning him into one of his agents was truly one of his greater schemes. Up until now Specter had performed every task Pegasus gave him flawlessly. So now, at the moment of his greatest, most important assignment, why had Specter stalled?

'Such raw power that one has. He doesn't deserve such power. It's just as well I halted his advancement, he would be a bigger threat than Arain if his training was completed.'

There was no doubt in Pegasus' mind that Specter was Seier's missing Serra Mage. Of his own court, it was completely destroyed. Three of them he had hunted down and killed as potential threats to his own power and authority. The fourth mage, and weakest of the four, had been working as a spy until Arain's guards discovered him several months ago. As he was contemplating these events, Weevil entered the hall, approached the throne, and bowed.

"What information do you bring me?"

"I spoke with Specter as you ordered. After observing Specter's…interaction with the Crown Prince it is clear that they have begun a physical relationship. After speaking with Specter I was forced to conclude he will not be able to complete the mission. He has grown attached to his target."

"So you think him disloyal?"

"If I may be so bold, yes I do. My King, I ask that you allow me the pleasure of completing Specter's mission and eliminate Specter himself."

'So he wants to take out Yami and Specter himself…interesting.'

Pegasus considered Weevil's request for several moments before answering. It was highly unlikely that Weevil would be able to eliminate either one, but it most likely would remind Specter of exactly what was at stake (namely Solomon's life).

"Very well, I will give you the opportunity. Failure is death in a mission such as this, remember that Weevil. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Lord Pegasus. Thank you, I will not disappoint you."

With these words Weevil exited the hall and left Pegasus alone with his thoughts.

End of Truth through Deception Chapter 6

Please leave a review! This was my first attempt at writing a scene with citrus content and I'd love some feedback. It is also so gratifying to know that people actually read my story, so please leave me some feedback.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please do not sue me. I'm just a poor college student attempting to amuse myself and escape reality.

A/N: Hello all! Here I am on this lovely Valentine's Day. Being that I have no one special to spend the day with, I decided to write about some of my favorite guys. Aside from that I am also snowed in. Looking out my window I see about five inches on the ledge of the window and probably three feet on the ground. So anyway, now that I'm done complaining about the weather, on with the story!

Truth through Deception

Chapter 7

Yugi continued to stare blankly into nothingness as he contemplated his options.

1. Complete the mission: kill Yami.

2. Tell Yami he is Specter.

3. Miraculously find a way around his mission and protect his grandfather from Pegasus' machinations.

4. Run away and become an actor in a faraway land.

'Ok Gioco think; use that intellect that Specter is known for. Option 1: the most logical course of action, also the one act that will hurt me the most. Kill Yami, the one person, other than Grandfather, who I've ever loved, and most likely the love of my life. Right, I might as well make it quick and less painful and stab myself in my heart. Option 2: tell the target I am supposed to kill him and am a top level spy for the enemy. Yeah, that'll go over well. Option 3: right, this would be a really nice occurrence, but highly unlikely. I might as well wish Pegasus will discover religion and realize that he wants to make peace, not war. Option 4: nice to contemplate just running away from my problems, but that is the coward's way, not mine.'

"Oh Grandfather, what should I do? I never wanted any of this to happen."

Thinking of Grandfather always brought a small, sad smile to Yugi's face.

'Grandpa, good old reliable Grandpa. I miss you so much, I feel so alone. I'm confused and don't know where to turn to. You always said you'd be here for me when I needed you, and now, at the time I need you most you are so far away. I wish I could talk to you, hear your voice. I would give almost anything to have you here now, safe.'

Thinking of Grandfather made a conversation between the two some time ago come to mind.

FLASHBACK

"Gioco it's your turn."

Blinking at his grandfather's words, Gioco looked back at Solomon's smiling face and then back at the chessboard set up on the table between them. Gioco studied the board for a moment before seeing a possible move.

"Gioco you are never going to defeat me if you cannot keep your mind on the game."

Gioco looked at his grandfather and smiled at his words. Glancing back down at the board Gioco made his move.

"Checkmate Grandpa."

Solomon studied the board and smiled ruefully. It was the first time his grandson had beaten him at chess but he knew it wouldn't be the last.

"I'm proud of you Gioco; you've proven your potential."

"Yes, I'm sure Pegasus will be pleased."

Gioco stared at the board as he said this. At the lack of response from Solomon, Gioco looked up and was shocked to see anger in his grandfather's normally kind eyes.

"It's not that dishonorable bastard you should have to prove yourself to."

"Grandfather! You shouldn't say such things!"

"I only speak the truth Gioco. You belong in Seier, not here!"

"And what about you? You say I belong in Seier but you say nothing of yourself."

"What happens to me doesn't matter. I've lived a long life. I've watched my son grow up, marry, I was there when my beloved grandson entered the world, I watched conflicts evolve into war and then peace. I've buried my son and his wife while I comforted my grandson, their legacy. I've watched my home be destroyed by an invading army and my grandson be raised by the enemy to use against my friends. I've had a complete life full of happiness and sadness, I know I will die here at Pegasus' hand and I am at peace with my fate."

"Grandpa please don't talk like that."

"I only speak the truth. Gioco if you get nothing out of the rest of this conversation I want you to remember what I tell you right now. Pegasus will try to use me against you. What happens to me doesn't matter. I am an old man with more years behind me than in front of me. You, my grandson, are young and have so much life in front of you. Gioco, you must always do what you see as best. Regardless of the mission, my life, and even your own life. If you bow to Pegasus' demands you are becoming exactly who and what Pegasus wants you to become. Don't worry about me, live your own life first and foremost. Do you understand?"

"Yes Grandpa."

"Then what did I tell you?"

"When my own beliefs are in conflict with my orders I should not compromise my beliefs."

"Very good. Up to another game?"

END FLASHBACK

'Follow my own beliefs. I have to talk to Yami.'

With this final thought, Yugi stood up from the ground and began his chores for the day. Several hours later Yami returned from the court meetings. Yami headed straight for Yugi and enveloped him in a hug. Tilting his head down, Yami captured Yugi's lips with his own. Several moments later the two broke apart.

"Yugi, it seemed as though the day would not end; obnoxious sycophant after obnoxious sycophant all day long. The thought of you waiting here in my rooms for me nearly drove me into insanity! How did I ever get through the day without you?"

"Yami you act so crazy sometimes. Surely your day wasn't all that bad."

"No, in truth we did get a lot done. There have been rumors that Pegasus is keeping some high level Seieran official prisoner in Cecile. The strangest thing is no high ranking officers have disappeared recently. Never mind though, I spent far too many hours discussing politics today. I have far more enjoyable plans for the two of us tonight."

Yami led Yugi over to the bed where the two began more intimate activities. Yugi knew he should talk to Yami, but he'd have an opportunity to do so in the morning before Yami's meeting. The clock was ticking, but there was still time left.

The next morning Yugi and Yami sat together at breakfast. Yugi saw this as an opportune moment to tell Yami about his past. Looking at Yami, Yugi hesitantly said the Crown Prince's name. Yami, hearing Yugi's voice, looked up and smiled.

"Yes Yugi, what is it?"

"Yami there are things about my life, about my past, that you should know."

"Yugi whatever happened before is all in the past, it doesn't matter anymore."

"No, it matters more than you know."

"Alright, what is it that you think I should know."

"Yami, I…I..."

Yugi stopped for a moment attempting to control his nerves. After a moment he began again at Yami's encouragement.

"Yami, try not to panic, but I am…"

A sudden knocking at the door interrupted Yugi's voice and caused the two to jump slightly. They had been so focused on each other neither one had heard the approaching footsteps. Yami called out for the guard to enter.

"My Prince, the King requests your presence in the gardens. He would like to discuss some issues brought up at yesterday's meeting."

Yami sighed in annoyance; some of the guards really did have the worst timing.

"I'm sorry Yugi, we'll have to continue this later."

Yugi nodded in understanding and stared disheartened at the table while Yami rose and followed the soldier in leaving the room.

'Damn it, I should have told him earlier. I need to focus. Focus, concentration, I should meditate.'

Having decided his course of action for the moment Yugi settled into a light meditative stance designed to focus, amplify, and replenish his Mage abilities. Yugi remained in this state for some time until he was shocked out of it by something quite unexpected.

'That Kiras Signature, it's so familiar, but it shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be here.'

The Kiras, the Seieran and Cecilian name for the soul or spirit. The Kiras is what allows or prevents a person from practicing the Mage Arts. The Kiras Signature is unique to each person. Whose Kiras Signature had Yugi sensed? Agent Scarab from Cecile, also known to Yugi as Bug Boy, or simply Weevil.

Across the palace from Yugi, Yami and Arain were discussing other serious concerns. One of which being the mysterious prisoner in Cecile.

"I just don't know how Pegasus could be holding a high level official in Cecile without us knowing anything about it. Father, you know as well as I that the only officer that remains missing is Solomon, but he has been assumed killed."

"If it truly is Solomon the only reason Pegasus would have left him alive after all this time would be to cause him pain. If this is the case it would have been better for Solomon to have died with his family all those years ago."

"Father how can you say such a thing about a close friend?"

"I am only saying what I know to be true. The truth is what it is my son. Solomon would have been better dead than a captive of Pegasus for the past thirteen years. Pegasus has a penchant for cruelty, and remember Yami we never found little Gioco either."

"Do you have any ideas about Gioco's fate?"

"Only this, Pegasus knew of Gioco's Mage potential and that he was Solomon's grandson. That gives Pegasus two very good reasons to want to eliminate Gioco. Being a small child Gioco would have had no way to defend himself against that kind of threat."

"Father, I have a bad feeling about this whole situation. The fact of the matter is that we just don't have enough information to do anything but theorize."

"As always you are correct. Come, let's go inside and find some of the court to discuss this issue further."

Yami nodded his head in agreement and the two began to make their way back into the palace. Yami, sensing something amiss, suddenly stopped and pulled his father back a step. As he did this Yami briefly heard the whistling of something flying through the air before he saw a short throwing knife embed itself in a tree to the left of the royal pair. Yami quickly realized several things. First, if he hadn't stopped suddenly the knife would have impacted his neck rather than the tree. Second, the attack had come from the right of their position. Third, both he and his father were unarmed. Fourth, the guards had remained at the gates to the gardens, several minutes away. Adding all these factors together Yami could only conclude he and his father were in trouble.

END OF TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 7

Don't you just hate me now? Seriously I feel awful about ending the chapter here. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon as I've already started writing it. Want to make my day and give me some feedback? Scroll down a little bit further and give me a review! Until next time-JMYoda


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, please refrain from suing me. Some of the effects of certain magical attacks were based on a combination of watching Yugi/Yami duel and watching way too much Naruto (also do not own).

AN: My sincerest apologies to all of my wonderful readers. I really wanted this chapter done by the middle or end of March, but unfortunately I failed to incorporate what a Spring break spent several states away, a multitude of papers that happened to be due the week I returned, a couple tests, several presentations, and other random projects along with work would mean for my free time. On a more positive note, since school is almost done for the semester I should have a little more free time to write and work on this and other stories….unless of course I get writers block. Without further ado, the next chapter!

Additional AN: I have included a couple end notes in areas where I thought it might be unclear or some readers might be unfamiliar with.

Truth through Deception

Chapter 8

'Why is Weevil here in the palace now?'

Focusing once more, Yugi stretched out his mind to locate Weevil.

'Ok, Weevil's across the palace somewhere. He's relatively isolated except for two other Signatures. One of those seems familiar; hang on that's Yami! Yami's meeting with his father in the gardens. Well at least that explains why they seem isolated, the gardens are restricted since the heightened security after the rebel attack. There's only one reason Weevil would be here now and in close proximity to Yami. He's been ordered to take them out.'

Yugi knew that he moment to make a choice had come and when it came to taking action there was really only once decision he could make.

'I'm so sorry Grandpa.'

Rushing out of the Crown Prince's rooms Yugi quickly and stealthily made his way through numerous and somewhat labyrinth-like hallways to the gardens. Entering the gardens, Yugi noticed with dismay the two guards laying just out of sight, dead, with stab wounds in their backs.

'Definitely Weevil, he's the only agent crazy enough to leave evidence laying out in plain view.'

Once again picking up Weevil's Signature, Yugi followed it to small clearing surrounded by trees. Looking up, Yugi had just enough time to dodge one of Weevil's knives.

"Well well, if it isn't little Gioco."

Saying this Weevil jumped out of the tree in which he was perched. Yugi knew Weevil was trying to catch him off guard; this was the first time in ten years Weevil had addressed him using his real name.

"I always thought it might come down to this. Shall we test my Mothman poison against your Mage abilities?"

"It's over Weevil, I won't let you hurt anyone I care about."

"Then I suppose it's time to begin."

Reaching behind his back Weevil pulled three shuriken1 from his bag and threw them at Yugi, who dodged to the side while focusing his mind to his power core.

"Mage Illusion!"2

Immediately there were three copies and the original Yugi now in the clearing. Two of Weevil's shuriken flew harmlessly into the ground. The third hit one of the Yugies, causing it to vanish into a cloud of smoke.

'Damn, I had to drop my Signature Suppression Illusion to complete the Mage Illusion. Oh well, I'll deal with those consequences after this fight.'

At the same moment Yugi had been forced to complete the Mage Illusion Arain, Yami, Seto, Bakura, and Marik sensed a sudden unknown Kiras Signature flair. Immediately all five, as well as several people who happened to be in their company at the time, cautiously made their way to the site of the disturbance.

"Well Weevil, you have a one in three chance of hitting me now."

As Yugi spoke Weevil threw another shuriken at one of the Yugies. The shuriken impacted the Yugi, which dissolved into smoke. At the same moment Yugi once again focused and drew power from his magical core.

"Shadow Mage Attack!3"

As Yugi attacked, and gave away his position as the real Yugi, Weevil again threw a poison-tipped shuriken at Yugi, this time hitting his left shoulder. Gasping at the sudden pain, Yugi lost his focus momentarily and allowed the last illusion of himself to fade away. Sinking to his knees at the burning feeling created by the poison, Yugi saw Weevil prepare to flee and realized Yami and the three Mages were approaching.

'No, I can't let him escape.'

"Swords of Revealing Light Immobilize!4"

With his last bit of power, Yugi slammed his hands to the ground. As his hands hit the earth, a blinding circle of light appeared around Weevil. The circle flared briefly and knocked Weevil unconscious. Yugi sighed with relief, he had succeeded. Strength gone, Yugi noticed his vision was beginning to blur and darken. The last thing Yugi saw before blacking out was Yami's concerned face as the two royals, three Mages, and several other people entered the clearing.

TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 8 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION

Yami couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

'Since when has Yugi been able to perform Mage spells?'

Yami watched in shock and worry as Yugi completed the Swords of Revealing Light technique and collapse to the ground. No longer concerned about his own safety, Yami rushed forward to Yugi's side.

"Yugi?"

Receiving no response, Yami reached down to attempt to revive Yugi and was once again surprised. Yugi's skin was cold to the touch. So focused on Yugi was Yami that he didn't notice the other Mages and his father's approach until Seto lightly placed his hang on Yami's shoulder.

"Yami, I know you're worried but if Ryou is to look over Yugi, you need to step back and let him work."

Yami nodded and allowed Seto to pull him back several feet. Seeing this, Ryou moved from Bakura's side to Yugi's and knelt. The entire clearing was silent for the few tense moments it took Ryou to examine Yugi. Finally Ryou smiled slightly and spike.

"He'll be alright. His collapse and cool body temperature is due to Kiras energy depletion. My guess is he's been suppressing his Kiras Signature as to not alarm us. The disturbance Bakura and the rest of you likely felt was probably caused when Yugi was forced to discontinue whatever suppression technique he was using. He also has a wound to his left shoulder that is most likely poisoned, but we can easily administer an antidote in the healing wing. Would you like me to examine the other one as well?"

"Yes, he shouldn't be any threat after that fight, but better check him anyway."

Ryou nodded and moved to Weevil's prone body. As with Yugi, several moments passed before Ryou spoke.

"This one has minor injuries caused by Mage attacks, the last of which forced him unconscious. It will most likely be an hour or two before the effects of the immobilization attack wear off."

Arain looked over the group that had assembled in the clearing. Coming to a decision, he turned to Jonouchi.

"Jonouchi, go get some medics and have them take these two to the medical wing. Place Yugi in a private room under guard. Marik, Bakura, I want one of you guarding him at all times until I tell you otherwise. He may have just helped us, but I don't trust him; this situation has Pegasus' name written all over it. Place the other one in the maximum security room with guards standing outside. Make sure you search him carefully, the shurikens he was throwing around look like the ones used by Scarab. Seto, Yami, meet me in my study as soon as possible. The rest of you return to your duties and speak to no one of these events. Pegasus has shown his hand and given us an opportunity here; I do not want to waste it."

At Arain's words the group dispersed; each heading to his own specified destination. The medic team arrived a moment later and quickly moved to the two unconscious people out of the gardens toward the wards of healing. Yami started, as if to follow the medics taking Yugi to the healers, but was stopped by Seto's hand on his shoulder.

"We should go see your father first. It will be harder to leave Yugi if we go to the healers first and then go to the King's study."

Yami nodded slowly before he turned and walked in the opposite direction of the healing wards. The two walked through many grandly decorated hallways that had entrances to extravagant, and somewhat gaudy in Yami's opinion, rooms before reaching the main audience chamber. This was a large, airy, elegantly designed and decorated room where the king and his court sat to listen to and try cases. This room the two also walked through to a door on the back wall. This door led to a smaller room that held the King's desk, official documents and records, and even some mementos. Opening the door, Yami and Seto entered, seeing Arain seated at his desk, seemingly looking over some files or documents. Seeing the two come in, Arain motioned for them to sit down opposite of him.

"First off, Yami what do we know about this Yugi?"

"Well, he's 18 years old. He was one of the palace servants before I promoted him. He hasn't been in the palace very long; I think he came with that group from the border region several months ago."

"Is he Seiran or Cecilian?"

"I honestly do not know. From the little information he has told me I do not think he has had much control over his life."

"He has a grandfather."

Yami and Arain both looked at Seto startled.

"How do you know this?"

"I detected him using an anti-eavesdropping Mage technique several days ago. There is something else you should know. Yugi is Specter. The truly interesting thing is this: Pegasus is holding his grandfather's life."

"Based on how long Specter has been active I think we now know the identity of Pegasus' long-term prisoner."

"Why Yugi? Why manipulate _him_?"

"Yami, Yugi has a great deal of Mage strength within him. He has yet to complete Mage training; he told me this for a fact. Even so, Yugi's abilities are still borderline Court Mage level."

"Why has he not completed his training? That would seem to be a vulnerability in the field."

"Pegasus is paranoid about people becoming stronger than him. He even went to great trouble to ensure his own court could never assemble and become a threat to him."

"That leaves us with two possibilities. He is either a Cecilian Mage or a Seiran Mage. The question is which one?"

"There is really only one way to be certain of that: ask him."

TRUTH THROUGH DECPTION CHAPTER 8 TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION

Jou stood watching Yugi sleep.

'Man how does Yami attract people like this all da time? Not ta say he wasn' good for 'im in da short run, but anotha' spy.'

Still standing guard, Jou tensed slightly as the door opened, and then relaxed immediately seeing it was Ryou, who in turn was being followed by Bakura. Ryou moved to Yugi's bed while Bakura silently moved to stand next to Jou.

"I never would have guessed this midget could be a powerful Mage."

"Ya never thin' anyone coul' be as powerful as ya, what else is new?"

"It just makes me wonder how much of his timid, quiet personality is a façade put up by the true personality…whatever that personality may be."

"Ya act'ally right. At least when he wakes up we'll be able ta get some answers."

"You don't think he'll try something like other agents have?"

"No. He risked his life and blew his cover to save Yam. He won't do anything to endanger Yam."

"We'll just have to wait and see then…I hate waiting."

Jou rolled his eyes, glanced at Bakura, then Ryou, and back at Bakura.

"Bakura, ya hate everything. Well, almost everything."

The three conscious occupants of the room looked to the door as is opened again. Yami, Seto, and Arain entered the room.

"He should awake in several hours. As I thought, he is merely suffering from fatigue. While removing the poison he was infected with during the fight we found something else as well. It appears he had been taking a drug to suppress his Mage abilities; there are still traces of it in his system."

Bakura, Seto, and Yami eyed each other as the group took in Ryou's words. If there was still trace amounts of the drug in Yugi's system, he would have been unable to fight at full strength. The same question hit the three at the same time.

'Exactly who is this Yugi?'

END OF TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 8

End notes:

1 A dart or throwing blade, sometimes with multiple points, used as a weapon by ninja or samurai

2 Combination of Magical Hats from Yu-Gi-Oh and the Shadow Clone Jutsu from Naruto

3 Based on the Dark Magician's Dark Magic Attack

4 Based on the Swords of Revealing Light card which immobilizes an opponents cards for three moves

Well, there it is. Please review, I love getting feedback!


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I swear! Please don't sue me; it'll be a waste of time as I am just a poor college student.

A/N: To anyone still reading this story – I am so sorry. My simply horrible schedule last semester along with a bad case of writers block left me in the position of having this chapter partially completed for months. I am just starting my final semester for my degree so updates will be, as always, sporadic at best. I have not and do not plan to abandon this story. I have every intention of finishing it. Also, I am writing a Fullmetal Alchemist story if anyone is interested in that series; the story is an alternate universe and I am attempting to answer the question of what would the series be like if Ed had grown up in our "real" world and been transported to the FMA world. To anyone not following that anime and manga, I highly recommend the series! Now, (finally) onto the next chapter!

Truth Through Deception

Chapter 9

After discussing things with the rest of the court while waiting for Yugi to wake, the decision of what to do with Weevil, alias Agent Mothman, was bought up.

"The logical course of action is to execute him; eliminate any threat, present and future, and give local morale a lift at the same time."

This of course was the ever logical Seto. Jou, interestingly had a different view.

"No, we should keep him alive. In prison to be sure, but alive. He may still have useful information."

The debate continued on for several minutes before Arain finally put a stop to it.

"We shall keep him alive for now I think. Killing off a high level agent like Mothman is dangerous at any time, but even more so now with Specter captured as well. Also, as Jonouchi said, he may have some relevant information to our cause. Besides, Yugi's beginning to wake up."

As literally all eyes in the room turned to look at the figure o the bed, each person saw that Arain was correct: Yugi had started to sleepily blink his eyes as they adjusted to the brightness of the room. Time seemed to stand still for several moments as the occupants of the room stared at the individual on the bed and the individual stared back with deceptively innocent eyes. As the seconds wore on and Yugi's memories presumably straightened themselves out, Yugi's eyes went from innocent to calculating. He was in trouble and he knew it. Yami's was the voice that broke the silence.

"Yugi, it appears you've been keeping secrets from me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Drop the innocent routine, you and I both know what happened back there. I just want to know why. Are you just another one of Pegasus' lackey, or do you have some grievance against me?"

"Pegasus? How could you even accuse me of being one of _his_ lackeys?! I hate the man! I hate him and wish he would never bother me again! I wish I had never had the misfortune of drawing his attention in the first place."

"Is it because of Solomon?"

At Arain's mention of the former general the room instantly went quiet and panic showed clearly in Yugi's violet eyes.

"You look just like he did at your age Gioco. I should know, when he was your age he was just a lieutenant in the home guard that I would follow around as a child. I once babysat your father when I was twelve. He cried for his parents the entire night; many years later when my late wife watched over you while your own parents were away over night; she discovered you were the same, except you stopped crying when my son threw a stuffed toy at you. This apparently led to yours and Yami's first game of strategy. I'm told there was no clear winner with both sides suffering heavy destruction. My point being Gioco, you are among friends, some of the earliest ones even if you don't remember making them. It is likely I could tell you about your first meeting with most of the people in this room, but I doubt we have that kind of time available to us at the moment. Why are you trying to resist our help?"

"That's just it. You can't help me. No one can now. He always said I'd have to make a choice and when the time came to be sure I could live with it."

"Who said that Gioco?"

"My grandfather, the only other person who has called me by my given name and not meant it as an insult."

Arain sighed audibly knowing it was unlikely they would get any truly useful information from Gioco at this time.

"We'll leave you to your thoughts for now. Just consider this carefully: I am sure that by now Pegasus already knows of your actions in the gardens and thus considers you an enemy. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain by silencing you."

With a stern look at the rest of the room's occupants he left, with the rest following him slowly.

"Father, why did we leave? We need answers!"

"Gioco has been manipulated his entire life. If he believes we are only trying to get information from him it is doubtful he will willingly help us. He needs to trust us, trust that we have only the best intentions for him. Thus far, Solomon is the only person who has earned that honor. Yami, I know you want to help him, but he needs to want it first."

"So what do we do now?"

"Wait. It will not be long until this impasse is broken, I just don't know which side will start it."

TRUTHTHROUGHDECEPTIONCHAPTER9TRUTHTHROUGHDECEPTION

_We only want to help you Gioco_

'But I don't want your help! Anyone that tries to help is only put in the line of fire. Granted he's the King of Seier so he was probably already rather far in that line to begin with, but best not to take chances. Seriously though, can Pegasus even hurt Arain? I mean they're both Kings, except the one is a paranoid schizophrenic with a god complex. But is it a god complex or is he just an egotist? Arain's right I do need help, but the mental kind since I'm having an argument in my head. But am I really sick in the head if I know it or is it only if I think I'm normal and actually am insane? Ouch! Note to self: too much thinking equals bad headache, avoid at all costs. Maybe I'll just stare blankly at the white ceiling and wait for the medication to wear off. Maybe it's not really the medication though…Ouch!'

As Gioco stared blankly in front of him, thoughts raced through his mind.

'What will Pegasus do though, seriously? Who will achieve the dubious honor of being his next victim? Grandpa, I could really use your guidance right now. You always know what to do!'

As Gioco sat contemplating his circumstances the light suddenly changed. Looking to the main source of lighting available in the room, the window, he saw why. A figure was approaching the window of his room. The figure came closer and Gioco felt his dread rise. He recognized the creature; after all Pegasus' correspondence ravens were hardly scarce around the Cecilian palace. Pegasus primarily used his ravens for threatening, gloating, or a high ranking order change.

'I wonder which one it is for me.'

As the raven flew through the hospital room's window and landed silently on the bed next to him, Gioco glared at the bird with obvious disdain. He had never liked them as messengers and they seemed to return the favor. Looking at the raven, Gioco lowered his gaze to the bird's talons. Sure enough, just as Gioco had known it would, the bird tightly clasped a roll of parchment. Hesitantly Gioco moved forward to take the letter from the bird. Surprisingly the raven did not take flight as it was relieved of its burden. Gioco noted it must have been instructed to wait for a response. Gioco slowly and cautiously unrolled the letter as though afraid it would suddenly gain teeth and bite his hands. Finally Gioco could read the note in its entirety.

_My dearest Gioco,_

_I would like to say I was surprised at your duplicity; unfortunately for you I was not. Your actions have wounded me deeply as I always saw you as one of my greatest students. All of this, however, is now behind us. This situation that you and you alone have created has come to a head. I am afraid that poor old Solomon may be the one to pay the price for your rebellious actions. As hesitant as I am to punish dear Solomon for your actions, if I do not I will break my half of our agreement. I am sure you recall the one I speak of even though you yourself have already broken it with betrayal. I am not without mercy though. Return to Cecile and face your King and your actions as a man. Returning can only help your circumstances as it will greatly improve my demeanor. Perhaps we will even be able to put this incident behind us after much hard work. Come home and face me Gioco. Come and face your fate. I eagerly await your response. Do not wait to long before deciding, my patience is not endless. Farewell and good health._

_Pegasus of Cecile_

_Lord and King_

'This is it' Gioco thought with a sense of shocked calm.

'This is the moment Grandfather always spoke of, the moment of truth. Pegasus is right about one thing; I am returning to Cecile, but not to crawl to the foot of his throne and beg forgiveness. This ends now, one way or another. Yami, I'm sorry but this is one last battle I must face alone. I cannot drag you down with me.'

Casting a look about the room, Gioco carefully listened to his guards outside and realized they were unaware of his feathered visitor and the letter he had received. Slipping silently from his bed, Gioco moved to the window.

'I'm in luck, it's just a short jump to the next roof and then I can make my way out of Seier. They'll send someone to check on me soon, it's now or never.'

Without another thought, Gioco climbed up onto the window and vanished from his room never realizing he had left the very letter that caused him to leave behind. The next several hours past quietly for the occupants of the healing ward. Due to a mistake in scheduling, no one had been assigned to check on Gioco's vitals. Ryou eventually came back across Gioco's room during his rounds, being closely followed by Bakura.

"Bakura, would you at least allow me to complete these rounds in peace?!"

"What about you're next session of rounds? Can I…distract you then?"

"Baka hentai. Why can't you at least control yourself when I'm working?"

"Oh, but all work and no play makes me a very unhappy Bakura."

"More like anything other than play makes a very unhappy….Bakura?"

"Yes Ryou?"

"Do you notice anything missing?"

"Hmm…like what?"

"The patient!"

"What? Where did he go? Yugi! Uh..Gioco? Midget! Where the hell are you?"

"This is bad, this is very bad. Where could he have gone? How could he have even left his bed? He shouldn't have been able to get two steps from his bed without collapsing."

"Let's check with the guards. It's a long shot, but they could have heard or seen something."

"And if they didn't?"

"Then we're going to have a rather unpleasant conversation with Yami and his royal father."

The two briefly questioned the guards stationed outside Gioco's door and around the ward but were unsurprised that none had seen or heard anything. With heavy hearts, Ryou and Bakura made their way to the throne room to inform the two royals of Gioco's latest disappearance.

TRUTHTHROUGHDECEPTIONCHAPTER9TRUTHTHROUGHDECEPTION

"What?! What do you mean he's gone?"

"Gone, disappeared, no longer there, ran off…again. It's not exactly hard to figure out Yami."

"I do understand the implications of being 'gone' Bakura. What I fail to comprehend is how Gioco could have just walked out of a guarded room!"

"Well, only the door was guarded, no one was watching the window."

"And the reason the window was left alone?"

"It's a straight five story drop to the ground. Most sane people think it suicide."

"Yami, Bakura that is enough. The fact that Gioco was able to outthink our security measures is unfortunate but not entirely unexpected. Bakura, was there anything left in the room that might tell us where Gioco is going or why he left?"

"Actually, my King, yes. This letter was found on the ground to the right of the bed."

While speaking, Bakura pulled the letter in question from his pocket and handed it to Arain. The King silently read the letter before in turn handing it to his son who also quickly read it.

"Entirely his fault, and who exactly was it that invaded and started this whole war?...It appears that Yug…Gioco told Seto the truth at least. Solomon is being used to guarantee his grandson's compliance. Father what are your orders?"

"We cannot simply leave Gioco and Solomon to Pegasus, especially now that we know they survived. Not to even consider that Gioco is the Serra Mage we've been looking for. Assemble your court my son, it is time to reclaim that which belongs in Seier."

END OF TRUTH THROUGH DECEPTION CHAPTER 9

Well it's finally done! Now you probably want to know what happens next. Guess that means I should go start writing. In the meantime, you can always leave a REVIEW!!!!!


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